Crystal

Rate $44
Response 1h

$44/h

Writing & Literature Instructor with 10+ years experience with high school and college students

English
Creative writing
Essay writing
English Literature
Test Prep
Cover letter preparation

Lesson location

- online

About Crystal

I have a heart for student success. I hold a BA in English Literature and a MFA in Creative Writing. I specialize in teaching Composition & Technical Writing while also academically advising First-Generation students. I own DreamWriterInk! Writing & Publishing as well.

About the lesson

My teaching philosophy is based on my belief that we learn by doing. This has proven most effective in the teaching of writing. We become good writers by reading, analyzing, and imitating in our own distinctive way. To communicate this view to my students, I practice a subjective approach to Composition derived in part from the Reader Response Theory. In adapting this approach, I am able to have each student leave my class with the ability to read, write, and think critically; thus, arming them with the skills to succeed within academia and the professional world.
As a teacher, my first priority is to create a productive atmosphere in my classroom; a safety zone where students feel welcome to share their views and be respected as valuable members of the academy. I make all my classrooms into a collaborative environment where students can confer and reinforce one another in a positive but, also provocative manner. In most freshmen classes students come from a variety of academic backgrounds and levels. By encouraging students to work as a collaborative, the classroom becomes a place where their educational differences mesh and become a plethora of knowledge from which each student can learn. It also allows me to equally distribute my intended focus on the skills I want them to learn: critical thinking, reading, and writing.

Experience has taught me that the best way to teach Composition is as a process, where students continually write, revise, and rewrite. I request substantial amounts of student writing, both in preparation for and during class. I use response papers, free writing, and multiple drafts to encourage ways of reflecting upon texts and ideas. Through interrelated assignments and revisions, I allow students to rework their own arguments and improve their writing skills. I also have students peer edit papers as well as meet with me individually as a way to guide them through the writing process. Then, lastly, I have students complete a self-evaluation, which I develop, of their own writing process.
I use similar techniques when teaching creative writing. Through various written exercises, students create 3-dimensional complex characters, realistic situations, and poetic images. I assign readings that show artistic writing techniques and give students tools to read as writers. The workshop is vital to the creative writing process. While participating in these workshops, I encourage students to give and, more importantly, accept constructive criticism.
When teaching Creative Writing, I have learned that a collaborative environment is essential to successful courses. To create this environment, I offer writing workshops and peer editing of first drafts. This environment also enables students to defend their own writing and positions in discussions. This collaborative learning process orientated approach teaches students to give and receive constructive criticism and allows them to take advantage of the critical abilities and varied interpretive approaches of their fellow classmates in making their own composition decisions. Creating this environment allows me to teach various ways of acquiring, analyzing, and evaluating information in the three subject areas I teach.

However, there is more to teaching than creating an environment. Each course has its own set of skills that need to be taught. In my approach to instructing literature, I encourage in-class group work or student-driven discussions with each assignment. I prefer student-led discussions where I act as a facilitator and, provide a brief historical and social overview and then pose questions. I encourage and challenge students to discuss and analyze while maintaining the use of the text as a support. I direct the course of discussion and at the same time challenge students’ assertions and assumptions in context with the reading. My goal is to encourage students to learn how to question their own writing in addition to the text. Students, therefore, develop new ways of interpretation and learn how to generate and defend their own understanding of the literature.
It is always my goal to teach students to read closely, analyze, and interpret as a scholar. I encourage students to abandon the logic that reading is a burden and to embrace its inherent value. Through a mixture of mini-lectures given by myself, close readings as group assignments, and general class discussions, I introduce the students to important authors and texts within the context of larger literary movements. I often try to make reading assignments as multicultural as possible, introducing students to authors that are not in the Canon. This is beneficial to the student as a whole because they learn about other cultures and different types of writings.

As an instructor and mentor, I have learned that the best teachers are always curious, flexible, and honest. As a teacher, I must be curious about my students, to learn their particular writing and thinking styles. I must be flexible; having the ability to bend, adjust, and sometimes, completely change my lesson plan based on student progress or lack thereof. I want my students to learn life-long skills such as critical thinking, reading analytically, and writing concise scholarly papers. To do this I must be honest with myself as well as my students. I must know when and how to guide them to get the most out of each class and become successful.

Writing & Literature Instructor with 10+ years experience with high school and college students

Lesson location

About Crystal

About the lesson

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Pack rates

online

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Writing & Literature Instructor with 10+ years experience with high school and college students

Lesson location

About Crystal

About the lesson

Rates

Rate

Pack rates

online

Other tutors in English

Ryan

Sherry

Poe

Andrea

Michelle

Connor

Alaa

Ritika

Alex Hartman

Mai

Dr Fara, PhD (Top Tutor)

Yudith

Lorraine

Imran

Jessica

Leena

Ali

Delia (Del)

Zeynep

Naazima

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